Take Not For Granted

Missed opportunities to do good or to smartly end an obstacle in Life can hurt.

Late last week, as I turned onto my street from work, I was surprised to see a large moving van outside a home across the street. Mobility is not novel around here. Not knowing a neighbor is unusual, however.

We talk often with neighbors all around us. A fun neighborhood, indeed. However, when the family that is moving out moved in a little over a year ago, I never went over there to welcome them. I never got to know the young couple from Massachusetts. (Dang, I would have loved hearing former Pat QB Tom Brady stories!)

More seriously, we do not want to miss opportunities that can change lives. The Duchenne community is painfully aware of the importance of optimizing the value of each day of their lives with a Duchenne child, constantly keeping up with (sparse) clinical trial results, staying in touch with other Duchenne families, and praying (many times a day) to keep the faith in hope for a better tomorrow.

I may have neglected meeting that outgoing family last year. But, I absolutely will not fail to introduce myself to the new incoming family. I will not miss another opportunity to make new friends in the neighborhood. (P.S. After writing this essay, I did go over and meet the outgoing neighbor Kevin, and we had a big time chatting.)

As for Duchenne and our sadness of seeing a so very bright five year old grandson become increasingly weaker in the hips due to the disease, I am not missing the opportunity to raise awareness about the immediacy and importance of raising awareness. After all, September is Duchenne Awareness Month worldwide.

 Let’s do all we can to help the medical research side of Duchenne smartly pick up the pace to make substantial progress towards mitigating the effects of, even ending, Duchenne.

It is terrible. Let’s make the most of each opportunity to achieve our goal.

Kindly,

Papa in Tennessee